Key Considerations for a Seamless Office 365 Migration

Many businesses are moving to Office 365, but the transition can be disruptive if the user experience isn’t carefully managed before, during, and after the migration.

Gartner’s recent research shows that by 2017, 33 % of all users would be on cloud‑based office platforms like Office 365. Cloud productivity suites deliver higher efficiency, easier access to data, and lower total cost of ownership compared to on‑premise solutions. Yet the shift to SaaS brings its own complexities, especially for IT teams unaccustomed to monitoring and deploying external applications.

Without a clear migration plan, employees may suddenly lose access to files or be unable to send emails, directly impacting productivity and the company’s ability to operate smoothly.

Migration Preparation

The first step—before any migration activity—must be clear communication. Employees need to understand that, despite recurring monthly fees, cloud services are ultimately more cost‑effective than on‑premise Office. Server, storage, and backup costs are eliminated, and capacity constraints—such as Exchange mail limits—remain comparable.

Beyond cost, SaaS delivers automatic updates, eliminates hardware maintenance, and offers flexibility, mobility, scalability, stability, and enhanced collaboration.

The second critical step is to ensure a robust network connection. Evaluate all links that the SaaS application will use, assess current performance of existing cloud tools, and measure bandwidth, connectivity, data loss, latency, and round‑trip time to predict Office 365 behavior.

Office 365 Migration: 10 Steps to User Experience

Our white paper, “10 Steps to User Experience Success When Moving Microsoft Office to the Cloud,” outlines comprehensive actions to take before, during, and after migration. Follow these steps to guarantee a smooth transition for all end users.